FIA officer remanded in money-laundering case

KARACHI: A local court on Tuesday remanded a deputy director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a case pertaining to money laundering. The judicial magistrate (South) ordered the FIA to produce Abdul Ghaffar in court again after four days along with a progress report of his case.

According to the FIA, the suspect during his posting as incharge of the Cyber Crime Reporting Centre Karachi extended undue favours to a software company ABTACH in an inquiry against it in return for a bribe.

It said the investigation has ascertained that an amount of Rs14 million was paid in illegal gratification, of which Rs4 million was handed over to a woman in Lahore on January 25 and Rs10 million was given to a man in the same city three days later.

The agency added that an investigation is under way to trace the money as it has been allegedly funnelled through various accounts on the directives of the suspect.

It said the person who dispatched the money is being held as a witness. It also said the facts constituted the commission of offences under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The FIA sought custody of the suspect on physical remand to complete the investigation. Meanwhile, the defence attorney opposed the plea arguing that his client was already on bail in a similar case but the agency had fabricated another case against him to put pressure on him.

The suspect said he was being victimised for not following the “illegal” orders of his superiors against some other officers. The prosecutor, on the other hand, argued that an investigation against the suspect is under way, so setting him free can hinder its progress.

Approving the prosecution’s request, the magistrate handed over the custody of the suspect to the FIA on physical remand until Friday with the order to file a progress report on the next hearing.